Explainers and guides on ISSF scoring, disciplines, gear, training drills, and getting the most out of TargetLog. Reviewed by the team, published in English.
ISSF 10m air rifle and air pistol both use a 60-shot qualification in 75 minutes, followed by a 24-shot elimination final for the top eight. This post lays out the full format, including sighters, time limits and how finals qualification works.
25m pistol is a 60-shot event split between precision and rapid-fire series at 25 metres with a .22 LR semi-auto. 50m pistol is 60 slow shots in two hours with a near-unrestricted single-shot .22. Same calibre, almost nothing else in common.
ISSF 25m rapid fire pistol is shot with a .22 LR calibre pistol at 25 metres. Athletes fire 60 shots across two stages, hitting five targets in sequences of 8, 6, and 4 seconds. The event has been part of every modern Olympics since 1896.
ISSF 25m sport pistol is a 60-shot match split into a precision stage and a rapid-fire stage, both fired at 25 metres with a .22 LR pistol. It is the only women's Olympic pistol event and rewards shooters who can switch between deliberate accuracy and controlled speed.
Follow-through means holding your position, grip, and focus for one to two seconds after the shot breaks. It prevents the micro-movements that push pellets off the center by a ring or more, and it is trainable with a handful of specific drills.
ISSF grip rules for 10m and 25m pistol got stricter on January 1, 2026, targeting the web-of-hand contour, thumb rest shape, and palm rest angle. Most shooters need small modifications, not a full replacement.
When your gun fails mid-match, the correct response is to stop, stay safe, and call the Range Officer before touching anything. ISSF rules allow repairs and refires for genuine material failures, but the decision belongs to officials, and shooter-caused faults get nothing.
In ISSF finals, a tie at an elimination cut is settled by a shoot-off: the tied athletes fire additional single shots until the tie breaks, with no countback.
Cold weather shooting clothing is really two separate systems: the legal competition kit you shoot in, and the warm layers you wear between series. Get the layering right, keep your hands and core warm during prep time, and your hold survives the cold.
Most precision shooters train best on 40 to 70 quality shots per session, close to match distance. Volume only helps while every shot gets your full process; past that point you are rehearsing fatigue.
A bad match is data, not a verdict. Give yourself a short cooling-off window, review the card once with clear eyes, extract one or two fixable causes, and return to training with a plan that targets them.
Under ISSF rules a crossfired competition shot is a miss (zero), a sighting shot on another athlete's match target costs a 2-point deduction, and an extra hit on your own match target can be annulled if a Range Officer confirms it was not yours.
Photograph a competition target and get an ISSF score on-device — free on iOS and Android.
Download Free
